Market Watch

Trips to the supermarket can be easy and quick if you are armed with a list of all the staples and fresh ingredients you need to prepare this evening’s dinner or this week’s meals. You may already take a shopping list with you when you head off to the market but did you know how you construct your list can get you in and out of the store even faster?

I like to make my grocery list, especially when I am doing a big shop, on the computer and then email it to my BlackBerry when I‘m done. Start by simply listing everything as you think of it. Just before you are ready to head off, take a moment to arrange the list so like items are together. Think of how your favorite store is laid out and list all the items you need together in categories or “departments,” as if you were actually walking though the store.

Once you arrive, start on the outside edges of the store and then go up and down each aisle from one side of the sales floor to the other, checking off the list as you go through produce, meats, dairy, canned goods, etc. Having a list in the order of the path you take through the store will keep you from running from one end to the other, saving time and effort.